Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have never owned a snake before. I have had Turtles, so I am not completely new to Reptiles. After some research, I have though that a KingSnake or RatSnake would be the best bet for me. I determined this by the size of snake, general temperament, relative ease in caring for them, and attractiveness. I have seen CornSnake recommended frequently, but really have no desire to own one. I was considering and Alterna KingSnake or a Bairds RatSnake. I was wondering if these are consider good "starter snakes" by current Snake Owners here. I think a Rainbow Boa would be real neat, but I am wary of such a large snake for a beginner such as myself. I have also read that KingSnakes can be a bit snappish or nippy when young, that is not really worrisome to me. What are the pro's and con's comparatively, and is there another recommendation out there for a good 1st time snake?
Thanks for the help and advice
~RareGirl~

a red tailed boa is going to be quite a challenge. I would not reccomend that as a starter snake, at all. along with the size, from what i've heard it will go off feed for no reason at all, and various other things.

kings and milks get nippy. they also get hard to handle as babies. my texas bairdis..got them at about 3 months of age and they're about 5 months now, they have never struck at me or anything. rattle their tails a lot. freaked me out at first but i think its pretty cool now. they are very active as babies also, however, but not as much as a milk or king. I'd highly reccomend the texas bairdi.

look in the rat snake forum and you'll get tons of pics.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)

Ball pythons go off feeding now and then (especially in the breeding season), but I researched and read alot about red tail boas and didn't see anything about them fasting. Adults do not need to eat very often (once a month is good for a big meal), but from what I've read they do not go months without feeding unless neglected.

I would, however, not reccomend getting one because of their massive size and their tremendous appetite. Adult red tail boas eat rabbits and young chickens, which are somewhat expensive. They also require a good 6x3 cage at bare minimum for adults.

Starting out with virtually any NA ratsnake is a good choice, along with childrens pythons and rosy boas. The list goes on though, and if you have any questions about them feel free to ask.

You can easily, with enough reading and research, keep virtually anything successfully. Jungle carpet pythons are not exactly "beginner" snakes, but mine have done very well without any problems.

Depending on where you live it may be good to get a snake from a local breeder, that way if you have any problems they can help you. Chris Harrison has a really nice excel spreadsheet of good species to keep on a scoring chart if you want to compare.
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Current Collection:
0.1 Antherystic elaphe guttata guttata - Corn Snake
1.0 Elaphe vulpina gloydi - Eastern Fox Snake
0.1 Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta - Black Rat Snake
0.1 Leucistic elaphe obsoleta linheimeri - Texas Ratsnake
1.1 Morelia spilota cheyni - Jungle Carpet Python
0.1 Tiliqua scincoides intermedia - Northern Blue Tongue Skink

How's that gloydi working out for you?

One of my favorite snakes, eats fine, incredibly docile (hasn't even attempted to bite me), kinda a cool pattern and very active.

Only problem I've had was that he fasted for about 4 weeks this summer because he wanted to breed/I don't hibernate my snakes. Other than that, quite literally, the perfect snake.

Unfortunately they aren't widely bred, and if you find them its about $75 each. Jamie Weilbacher (rosyboas.tripod.com) breeds them, if you are interested.
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Current Collection:
0.1 Antherystic elaphe guttata guttata - Corn Snake
1.0 Elaphe vulpina gloydi - Eastern Fox Snake
0.1 Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta - Black Rat Snake
0.1 Leucistic elaphe obsoleta linheimeri - Texas Ratsnake
1.1 Morelia spilota cheyni - Jungle Carpet Python
0.1 Tiliqua scincoides intermedia - Northern Blue Tongue Skink

I'd have to second that (as the only other guy I've noticed on this board who's owned one). As a teen, I caught a wild fox snake (well...more like it just slithered by on the road in our neighborhood). From the first moment of contact it was one of the tamest snakes I had. Always ate...very hardy (in fact, it even escaped its cage once, snuck down stairs, and broke into the cage of a pet mouse and ate that poor bugger). He was always calm and healthy.

Later on, not having time to take care of him, I let him go near where he was found.

But a great snake.
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One female Eastern Indigo. That's right, just one snake. But she's my dream-snake, so back off man.

Too bad you don't like cornsnakes because those truly are the best first snake. I would also recommend a California kingsnake, but as crtoon said, they can be a bit nippy as babies. However, I bought one as an adult about 10 yrs ago, and it was and still is a marvelous snake.
Alterna are real nice snakes with wonderful temperment, but they are some times difficult to start feeding. I would probably stay away from those unless you can find one that is guaranteed to be feeding on mice (no lizards!).
Good Luck!

RareGirl,

Ratsnakes make excellent first snakes, and your choice of a Baird's Rat is a fine one. I can think of no reason why you should not start with one if they are of interest to you. By the way...You DO know that cornsnakes ARE ratsnakes, right? I am curious as to why you have no interest in corns. Is it because they are so "common"?

Start with a Baird's, and when you start looking around for snake #2 (as most of us do), look into the other North American Ratsnakes, including the corns.

Good luck with your first snake. Good for you for doing some solid research first. Duffy

That's why I don't have any corns...just the fact that they are such common snakes. I find a much greater variety of rats and plus they have a great personality, I even enjoy that of the asians
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)

I am now enjoying my 2nd week with my first snake, a spotted python. I too was convinced that I wanted a kingsnake until a local breeder introduced me to the spotted pythons. I don't know if you're familiar with them but they are a small python and most don't ever get as large as an adult king. I wanted a snake that was more active than a ball python, less active than a kingsnake, and not quite as large. This species seemed to fit the bill. So far, especially the adults that I have handled have been very docile and easy to handle; most are 2 - 3 feet in length. Also, they definitely aren't as common as balls or kings. Just something else to consider if you are still looking....

rainbow boas arent really good snakes. they are nice but they dont have very long life spans. a good first time snake for you would probably be a rosy boa. they stay close to or under three feet and from what i've heared they arent too hard to take care of. and too add to that they are very docile.

I don't have one myself so you might want to do some research yourself to see if this is the snake for you.

My Rosy Boa is the meanest snake I've ever owned. I've had it now for seven years and it still is a guaranteed bite everytime I handle her. I've even thought about getting rid of her, but I just don't think anyone else would tolerate her behavior.
My point is that maybe you should wait on a Rosy. Stick with what you had in mind.
Cheers!

Rat snakes are and can be a great 1st snake. Just make sure you handle the snake before you buy it. Some can be a bit high strung.
Corn snakes are the very best beginner snake. As far as rainbow boas i would not recommend one for a 1st snake. Check out the rosy boa. I have owned rosys in the past and they were great as pets.
Good luck with your choice.
Chuck

I started with a ball python. I don't know if they seem to common or what anymore but there are wonderful color variations and I love their temperment. My first one is a wonderful girl that started out very normal looking and developed a very nice bright yellow down her sides. I have corn snakes which seem to come highly recommended but their just too quick for my taste plus I like the snakes with a bigger body girth. I don't know much about rosy boas but these posts may just interest me in doing some further research. In my opinion, though, ball pythons are easy to find, affordable, and pretty low maintenance. Good luck with whatever you choose.
Sera
S and M Reptiles

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3.7 ball pythons (5 normal, 2 het axanthic, lemon, blush, reduced)
1.2 king snakes (1 chocolate, 2 albino)
1.2 colombian red tail boas
1.1 pueblan milksnakes
2.2 african house snakes
2.0 striped albino gophers
1.2 burmese pythons (1 albino, 2 hets)
1.1 southern copperheads
1.1 dumeril's boas
2.3 corns (miami, okatee, caramel, 2 creamsicle)
1.1 jungle corns
0.2 ferrets
0.2 degus
1.1 rats
1.0 lab/beagle puppy
0.1 lab/boxer puppy
1.0 parakeet
0.0.1 yellow-tailed damsel
0.0.1 blue damsel
0.0.1 green chromis
0.0.1 mandarin
0.0.1 snowflake eel
0.0.1 blue legged crab
0.0.1 human on the way (believed to be a girl)

Thank you all for your helpful replies.
This gives me more research to do, and a better idea of what i should look for
As for CornSnake, I am not sure why, but I just don't find them as attractive as other snakes. Since they have been recommended so highly, i will have to take another look at them.
thank you again all!
~RareGirl~

I'm not crazy about corns either...just because of the fact it's such a common snake..I wanted something not as many people have. I think I have a fairly good variety for the small amount of snakes I have (compared to some people! lol). They certainly keep me busy!
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)